Press Releases

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) released the following statement regarding the urgent need for President Trump to sign legislation Congress passed that would extend expiring pandemic-related unemployment assistance through March 14, 2021:

“If President Trump does not sign the latest COVID relief package into law today, pandemic-related unemployment assistance will abruptly cut off for millions of Americans tomorrow. A failure to avert this benefits cliff would be devastating for struggling workers and their families who aren’t able to return to their jobs yet due to the ongoing public health crisis. As the economy continues to falter, folks are hanging on by a thread and desperately need this federal relief to continue so they can afford basics like food, medicine, diapers, phone bills, and housing.

“The Trump Administration was directly involved in negotiations for the bipartisan COVID relief legislation that Congress passed on Monday and had agreed to the 11-week extension of this vital assistance that the package provides. It is underhanded and cruel for the President now to refuse to sign it into law and potentially end this brutal year by inflicting even more pain and suffering on families in need. Republican leadership in Congress should join in calling for the signing of this legislation – which they helped write and voted for – to extend this crucial aid.”

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